Dyna’s body produces tremendous quantities of energy, which she can use in several ways. She can collect energy in her fists for enhanced combat. She can gather it around herself as a shield. She can expel it from her hands in several types of blasts and from her feet for a type of flight.

Affiliations

The Bay Scouts (2004-2006)

The Gatekeepers (2008-2009)

The Pariah Project (2009-present)

Biography

Dynamistress is the only known case of metahuman abilities being brought about by deliberate genetic manipulation. What makes her case even more unique is that the genetic manipulation was performed by Dyna herself.

The full details of this transformation and the events that followed are contained in her memoir, The Many Deaths of Dynamistress, which consists of three volumes: Reckoning, Redemption, and Renaissance.

As a member of The Bay Scouts, Dynamistress was among those “replaced” during Project Echo, more commonly known as “the Nevada Incident.” She is also the inventor of “PowerPaste,” which is sold as a dietary supplement (usually for bodybuilders), but is also used in hospitals for treating malnourished individuals. She was “Super of the Month” in the January 2008 issue of Supers magazine. She volunteers as a suicide prevention crisis counselor. And she is also the founder and facilitator for the Pariah Project.

To those who don’t know her well, Dynamistess often seems cold and distant. Her sardonic sense of humor doesn’t necessarily warm people to her. But in truth, Dyna is an extremely caring person who often goes out of her way to help strangers (even when not in her “hero” guise).

Excerpt from Reckoning

One of the drawbacks of my particular abilities is that energy doesn’t just come from nowhere. Humans get energy from food. My altered cells were more efficient at converting food to energy, but I still needed to eat a lot. In fact, if I were to recount my average daily food intake, it would astound you. Suffice to say that hobbits have nothing on me.

I don’t adhere to the standard three meals a day regimen. In fact, I eat fewer full meals than most people do. Instead, I eat several calorie-dense mini-meals throughout the course of the day. I supplement with high doses of vitamins because sometimes I go a week without eating vegetables. Not out of any dislike for them, but because they fill me up without giving me the calories I need. On days when I’m “off duty,” I’ll often eat nothing but veggies, in fact.

I won’t lie. I do love the fact that I’m able to eat whatever I like without gaining weight. A couple pints of Ben & Jerry’s every day? Don’t mind if I do. For a previously overweight girl, it was a dream come true.

Except when it was a nightmare. Like the time I ran out of energy while fighting the meta known as Blacknight. For those of you who don’t remember him (he died of cancer in 2006), he focused mainly on jewelry store jobs. He wore sleek black armor, including a medieval-style helmet. Probably not the best get-up for a thief who needs to get away and stay out of sight, but no one ever accused those on the other side of the law of being intelligentsia.

In my battle with him, I’d expended a lot of energy. His armor was darned effective. Eventually, I landed a blow that cracked the fitting of his helmet, causing the faceplate to come loose. But it was the last I had in me. I literally felt my energy level plummet and knew I was spent.

So I bluffed. When the visor fell away from his face, I looked him in the eye, fist poised for another crushing blow, and growled something at him. He knew one of my punches to his naked face would result in a huge dental bill, so he surrendered. Luckily for me.

After that, I swore I’d find a way to prevent such power outages without having to eat an elephant for breakfast every day. I have a firm rule never to eat anything larger than my head. Besides, stores near me don’t carry elephant.

Dr. Gray and I corresponded a lot after his visit, and our discussions continually gave me new ideas for improvements in the long term. But in the short term, I needed something more. My work had previously focused on converting calories to energy, but I realized I needed to learn all I could about calories themselves.

Without going into the tedious details, I spent months coming up with a formula for a super-high calorie supplement. There are many out on the market, including over-the-counter powders for bodybuilders and products manufactured for hospital use. I used these last as starting points since, unsurprisingly, there are too many of the OTC products that are scams.

After playing around with glucose polymer chains and whatnot, I eventually came up with a super-dense, high-calorie substance with the consistency – and flavor – of library paste. I added flavoring, of course, in the form of honey or chocolate or peanut butter. Nothing lacking calories. I packaged the stuff in snack-size zipper bags and carried half a dozen or so with me on patrol, which wasn’t easy with my outfit. I find it funny that the snack bags are advertised as being perfect for holding the trendy 100-calorie portions of snacks. Filled with Dynapaste, each bag holds about 3,000 calories. And no, I don’t really call it that.